Sunday Smosgasbord

Linking up with Fabulous in First for the Sunday Smorgasbord!

I had about a million thoughts rolling around in my head today, so I figured it was the perfect chance to do a Sunday Smorgasbord post! Fun fact: when I first started my teaching blog, it was called Fabulous in Fifth, so I love that this is hosted by Fabulous in First.

I've been super busy prepping for the upcoming school year lately! I know that my time at school will be more limited than in the past because of childcare, so I am trying to really think ahead. I am redoing a few things that I use often in the classroom, and just finished one that I thought I'd share!

When my students take a test, I am more concerned with what they learn than the grade they get. However, a lot of my students are more concerned with their grade. I like to give students the opportunity to work through the problems they made mistakes on to earn additional credit. It works for me, because the students correct their errors and show their learning. It works for them, because it helps their grade. That's a win-win situation! I revamped the sheet I use today, and created an instruction sheet to go with it. Check it out!

I ask the students to circle the type of question that they got incorrect so I can quickly assess their weakness. For instance, if they are most often losing credit on short answer questions I know that I need to target this area in the future.  The other columns are a bit more open ended and require some student thought and reflection. I created an instruction sheet go along with the correction sheet. I printed this sheet on colored copy paper, and the students will keep it in their binder all year long.

One of my favorite parts about this sheet is that the students are asked to identify the reason they did not receive full credit. Along with this, I ask the students to write a paragraph long reflection in their math notebook. After a few tests, I am able to identify frequent errors and address them within my instruction. This instruction sheet is incredibly useful in teaching the kiddos how to use this sheet. It prevents (to an extent) students from leaving columns blank because they "didn't know what to write." 

I've created this to work with my classroom procedures, but if you are interested in downloading a copy check it out here! 

Totally unrelated to anything, I am super psyched to have just bought this adorable wristlet!

It's a wallet that has a smartphone pocket, which solves my "gotta have the diaper bag, so I can't carry my purse, but I'm always dropping my iPhone because it's not in a bag" problem! :)


Check out my view right now...

How can I not go join in? :) Off to spend time with my loves.